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Tag: Petunias
Homebrewing competitions: what is it like to enter a beer
Well I promised an update on my entries to the home brewing competition but I thought I’d take the opportunity to do a little more than an update. I thought this was a good chance to talk about what it’s like to enter a home brewing competition and what to expect if you do. I know… Read more
Pizza Muffins – all the pizza goodness but in a handy munch sized format
Everybody loves pizza. It’s one of the facts of the world but sometimes you want that pizza hit but maybe you don’t want to eat a whole pizza (I can’t imagine that’s ever true). So the solution, Pizza Muffins. Pizza muffins are really simple to make and are a brilliant and comforting munch when slightly… Read more
Making tomato relish
We eat a lot of relishes, chutneys and pickles, but it’s not something we’ve ever tried to make so today I decided I’d have a bit of a look around the internet to see what was involved with the aim of using up the last of the marmande tomatoes from our greenhouse (well I say… Read more
Beetroot soup – what to do with a glut of beetroot
We mentioned earlier in the blog that we were having to come up with ideas for using up courgettes. Well the problem now is beetroot. We have tons of the stuff. So Kate and I have challenged ourselves to come up with 5 things to do with beetroot. Today it’s beetroot soup. Ingredients What to… Read more
Our bride ale – our wedding favours and the Black IPA recipe
The big day has come and only just gone which meant we got to enjoy giving our wedding guests the bride ale we created in their honour. You can read about its creation in a previous blog post: Brewing up a bride ale We had decided a while back that we wanted our wedding day to… Read more
Dealing with a veg plot deluge – courgette fritters
It seems that the courgettes are back on form this year after a bit of a poor showing last year. The plants have only been flowering for a few weeks and already we’re struggling to eat all of them before we have another ready to harvest. The solution – courgette fritters. Gorgeous hot or cold… Read more
Brewing up a bride ale
Firstly I should probably do the announcement, Kate and I are getting married. Letting you in on that little secret might explain the rest of this post :0) If you’ve read my previous post which talks about the history of women and brewing a lot of today’s post will be familiar territory. If you haven’t… Read more
Petunias – the growing from seed adventure
This year’s experiment was to grow the flowers for our hanging baskets ourselves rather than buy plants from our local garden centre. This would be the first time we’d grown flowers from seed so it was a bit of l new adventure for us and as usual I went into full research ninja mode before… Read more
Unheated greenhouse – does it really make a difference?
I was going to give you a very quick update on the garden today as things do seem to be coming along nicely but in looking at the photos to post it struck me that there is maybe a topic I could talk about that might be of help to some gardeners who are thinking… Read more
Brisket and onions in the slow cooker
It’s dark and cold and the snow has just started falling in Edinburgh so it’s definitely time for some “proper stodge”. You know, the warming, comfort food that is described as “sticks to your ribs”. That’s the stuff I’m talking about. One of our favourite comfort foods is Kate’s slow cooked brisket. Gorgeous, rich and… Read more
Oat breakfast bar treats
Our oaty breakfast bars are perfect as my energy boosting breakfast after my morning cycle. They started life as the Peanut butter booster bars from River Cottage but I have tweaked these so that they are more like a flapjacks and filled with the things I like. The oats help keep you from getting peckish… Read more
Carrots. Contrast, compare, review, recommend… or just munch.
Carrots When we first told people about the purple carrots we had planted the reaction was brilliant. People were genuinely really shocked at the idea of carrots in other colours. I suppose that it’s not really that surprising as all you really see in the supermarkets are orange carrots. That got me wondering why. Orange… Read more
Morning Rolls – fire them how you like
I grew up in Glasgow, Scotland, and like everyone else around me I absolutely love a bacon and scone roll in the morning. Now that doesn’t seem like a huge political statement, but trust me, as you are reading this, some folk are scoffing at their computer screens because I called it a morning roll.… Read more
Garlic Chicken – making good Chinese food at home
Well it’s almost Chinese new year so I thought this was a good time to confess to one of my biggest naughtiness(apart from beer) – takeaway food – in particular, Chinese takeaway but I always find that I’m super excited at the idea of having takeaway for tea, but then afterwards disappointed as it’s not… Read more
Harvesting beetroot and making a tart
Beetroot tart has become a favourite of ours since we started growing our own beetroot. It’s a bit surprising to the uninitiated just how sweet beetroot can be, mostly I think because they’ve only tried the pickled beetroot from jars and just assume this is what beetroot actually tastes like. It is actually a lovely,… Read more
Eating what you sow
This week we thought we’d do you a wee update on the food we get from the garden rather than just lots of pictures of plants, although we will also be including pictures of plants of course The exciting news this week is that we are seeing our first tomatoes. This is quite a big… Read more
More fun with a pasta machine – Chinese dim sum
Well we already told you about making pasta, but that’s not the only thing you can use a pasta machine for. We also made Pot Stickers. Pot stickers are little Chinese dumplings (won ton) which are fried on one side to get them all brown and crunchy and then steamed to cook the filling and… Read more
Squash (or pumpkin) Ravioli
Well this week has been a week of fun with the pasta machine, and just how versatile is a pasta machine? Well, let me tell you. We’ll start with pasta… Ravioli with butternut squash filling (or you could use pumpkin) Ok firstly, for those of you who fancy making pasta, it is dead easy, like… Read more
Cheddar and caramelised onion bread
A while back you joined me in my first nervous steps into bread making, so I thought it was time to bring you back to bread making and some of the fabulous new breads I’ve learned. Cheese breads are a favourite of Kate’s, and cheddar and caramelised onion was an idea of hers. This loaf… Read more